The Chinese police stopped a blockchain-themed conference which was taking place in Shanghai citing security risks on Thursday. The blockchain conference was disrupted by the authorities following allegations that its organizers are invited a fake Initial Coin Offering (ICO).

A Shanghai-based news media YMTMT reported that the police suspended the morning session of theGlobal Fintech & Blockchain China Summit 2018 and canceled other panels. The one day summit was organized by PTP International, a business organization.

All invited delegates who arrived for the summit were ejected from the event according to YMTMT, and all the visitors were denied entrance into the venue. The day’s presentation was supposed to consist of speeches by cryptocurrency experts, projects and states legislature concerning the industry.

The official reason for the disruption was not immediately disclosed; the social media was filled with rumors that some investors reported to the authorities that a fraudulent ICO in which they invested and lost a large sum of money was going to attend.

Addressing the rumors at a press conference, a spokesperson for PTP International vehemently denied the claims saying that“they are still investigating the reasons for the suspension, and so far the explanation offered by the police is that it is due to a security risk.” He continued,”We are working on a solution regarding how to make it up to the event attendees. The conference is in compliance with the regulations in China and does not feature any [Initial Coin Offering] ICO roadshow,”

PTP International emphasized that the conference meets with the laws governing public gathering in China and that it did not provide any platform for the promotion of ICO. Chinese authorities are strongly opposed to cryptocurrencies and ICOs. Cryptocurrency businesses are illegal in the country since they were banned by the government in 2017. Blockchain and digital ledger technologies have however flourished in China and have gotten huge government support.

Salomon Sunny is the market reporter for Smartereum, one of the global leaders in Ethereum, blockchain and currency news. He produces technical price updates on digital currencies and writes recent developments about blockchain.